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Hiccup

Does anybody out there have a favorite hiccup remedy? No particular reason…

“Hiccup” in Arabic, a word I did not know until I thought of it just now, again for no particular reason and certainly not because I am currently convulsing with them, is فَواق (fawāq) or possibly حازوقة (ḥāzūqah) but I think that فَواق is more common. The verb, “to hiccup” or “to have the hiccups” requires the use of a verb we haven’t seen yet, أصابَ (aṣāba), which is a Form IV verb meaning, among other things “to have.” The root of the verb, صوب (ṣawaba), is not commonly used, but means something like “to hit the mark.” In this case we have to use the passive form of أصابَ, which is أُصيبَ (uṣība), which means “to be afflicted”. The full phrase “I have the hiccups” is أُصيبُ بالفَواق (uṣību bil-fawāq), which literally means “I am afflicted with (by) the hiccups.”